Curriculum Vitae and Artist Statement

I use precious metals of gold, nickel and silver bathed in acids to reveal ghostly images of the subconscious merging to our conscious mind. My images appear and disappear depending on the viewer’s perspective and light. My unique medium tells a story slowly bring in layer-by-layer of meaning. Because the medium is intentionally subtle,it provokes viewers to examine every perspective to reveal the figure within the surrounding chaos and complexity. As the viewers search, I’m involving them in the overall message that there are many deeper meanings and truths that can only be discovered with careful examination and Study.

Brian Mark (Am, b. 1967) is a classically-trained artist whose work can be found worldwide, including the Florence Nightingale Museum and Trust, the American Association of Architects, the US Embassy of the Ivory Coast, the Witt Family Memorial in the National Cathedral, Washington DC and for the State of Maine’s Houlton Courthouse as well as in many private collections. Mark recently chose to settle in South Portland, Maine after living in Costa Rica and Minneapolis.

(ARTIST STATEMENT.) Brian Mark explores a unique area within surrealism to capture the a-ha! moment. Through his works, you experience the moment of the epiphany when a ghost of an idea emerges from the subconscious and comes into focus for the conscious mind to behold.

(ABOUT THE WORK) His works are meant to be use as stations for reflection; as a way to slow down, look closely and look again from as many angles as possible. To see things in a different light and perspective one finds so many hidden things, (truths, beauty or questions) which are right in front of you. He finds this to be true with so many great discoveries in our world and wishes to give the viewer a different vehicle to provoke thought that doesn't shock or scream (something that he feels we have enough of in the modern world).

(THE MEDIUM) Mark's medium is a combination of precious metals, acids and extreme temperatures brought together. He starts with a drawing, then scratches and grinds the image onto the stainless steel panel to expose the metal. Next, he electro‐plates gold and silver or nickel to the panel, using up to a half an ounce of precious metal in each panel. He then adds up to a dozen different acids and heats the panel up to 1400 degrees F with blowtorches or cools them to far below zero with dry ice. This process activates the elements to create color and enhances the ground‐in images that ultimately take form. The end result reveals hologram-like figures and images which seemingly appear and disappear depending on their play with the light and position of the viewer.

(SOME HAVE SAID) This unique medium defies the usual categories of art and has been described as “there’s a feeling of peacefulness and reference for life, and the shimmering quality speaks of magic, ghosts, prayers, jewels” to “you know how some people say they see Jesus in dental X-rays, plaster, toast, and, well, pretty much any other surface? Brian Mark’s art is kind of like that. Mark makes downright ghostly images with acid on large pieces of stainless steel.”